Prime Infra pushes more PPP model
‘With the right private sector participation, and working together with the different agencies and LGUs, we can make waste management a real industrial business.’
Daily Tribune‘With the right private sector participation, and working together with the different agencies and LGUs, we can make waste management a real industrial business.’
Prime Integrated Waste Solutions (PWS), a subsidiary of the Razon-led Prime Infra, has urged deeper collaboration between the public and private sectors to transform waste management into a full-fledged industry.
“With the right private sector participation, and working together with the different agencies and LGUs, we can make waste management a real industrial business,” Cara Peralta, Prime Infra’s Market Sector Lead for Waste, in a weekend statement, said.
Peralta said the company seeks to usher in “a new age in waste management in the country” by moving beyond basic disposal toward value creation through upcycling, resource recovery, and energy conversion.
She emphasized the potential of business-to-business offtake agreements for upcycled waste products, along with stronger enforcement of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. Such efforts, she noted, are especially crucial given the limited resources of many local government units.
Large-scale recovery facilities
PWS currently operates large-scale materials recovery facilities (MRFs) in Cebu and Pampanga. These centers handle key functions, including waste segregation, sorting and recycling.
The company also produces Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) from shredded plastic waste as a substitute for coal in cement plants, collects post-consumer plastic bottles, and generates plastic credits as part of its sustainability programs.
Data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources indicate that the Philippines generates approximately 61,000 metric tons of solid waste daily, with 24 percent of this amount being plastic. A third of this plastic waste ends up in landfills and dumpsites.
Despite being identified as one of the world’s top contributors to plastic pollution, Peralta said the country has clear opportunities to address the issue through available solutions.
These include building more infrastructure for segregation, recovery, and recycling; increasing public funding; and mobilizing private sector capital and technical know-how to help LGUs deliver effective and scalable waste management systems.
